One
by ultramadoka
Summary: All it took was one look. One look, and suddenly Sans knew that nobody else would do. He's finally met someone special, someone who he feels could stay by his side, and this time, he's not afraid to let them get close.
1. Chapter 1

Third Person's POV:

It had been half a year. No, more than that. Maybe seven or eight months since the monsters had returned to the surface. At first, people weren't very welcoming. Slowly, though, people realized: they didn't want to hurt us. All this time, we were the only ones who water to hurt anyone. This entire fight, this war that has never really ended, it was only being fount on one side: the humans.

However, that all changed when one day, the barrier shattered.

Everyone on the surface heard it. It didn't matter where you were, if you had headphones in, everyone heard it. Even the deaf told that they, too, heard the shatter. It wasn't loud, it wasn't echoing, it just sounded like a mirror breaking from the inside. Like glass shattering.

When it first happened, people imagining it as a window. A window that monsters were breaking into their homes, and that they couldn't possibly be here for anything good. However, as time crawled by, they realized it was a window breaking from inside the house: the house that acted like a prison. Soon, everyone became accustomed to the monsters. Of course, some groups formed that tried to drive the monsters back, or at least they talked about it. None of the groups ever did anything. They were always all talk, no action. The groups scared a few monsters at first, but soon they became a joke.

Eight months. Eight months, and everything was going smoothly. Well, at least it was for a particular person called Alex. They were on their second year of university, and there was so much diversity on the campus. A lot of monsters crawled out of the Underground and wanted to learn. So now, the campus was filled with monsters and humans alike. Hell, even Alex shared a room with two monsters. They were the nicest creatures you could ever meet. One of them was a (quite timid) ghost, and the other one… well, she was something. A vibrating dog of some sort, but they seemed really excited to be there. Their names were Nabstablook and Temmie.

Honestly, Alex wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the breakdown they had wo years ago. They remembered it so clearly. Their parents told them it was time they did something a little bit more than just lounge around and record videos to show the internet. That they needed to find something they wanted to do with their life, because you couldn't make a living off of being an internet personality.

Or, at least that's what their parents said.

In the past month, Alex's channel (as it was called) gained a lot of attention. Attention they never thought they'd receive. So, they decided to do a little research. Maybe throw some facts back in their parents' faces to show them they were wrong.

And you know what? They did find facts.

There were so many people on the internet who were having a nice life when their job was recording videos and having a good time. That got Alex thinking…

What if they just ditched the entire university gig altogether, and became a full-time vlogger?

It was a huge decision, but then again, so was going to university. These past two years, they never felt like they were truly doing what they wanted to with their life. They wanted their videos to go places, and in return, take them places.

So one day, they made a rash decision.

"Wuh-what are you doing Alex?" Nabstablook asked timidly, as if scared that they already knew the answer. Alex was throwing their belongings into the biggest suitcase they owned, and it looked like exactly what they were doing.

"I'm making a name for myself, Blook," Alex replied, examining a shirt and throwing it in with the rest of their clothes.

"Wat's tht supposed to mean?" Temmie asked in her usual, excited, shaking sort of way.

"That means, after two years at university, I finally found what I wanted to do." Alex closed the suitcase and lifted it up, extending the handle and looking at their two friends standing before them.

Nabstablook and Temmie exchanged equally as worried glances. They knew Alex, they knew them well. All the time they've spent with them, although it didn't seem like much, they learned so much about each other. Something they had always known about Alex though, was that they never knew what they wanted to major in. Temmie was majoring in business, Nabstablook was majoring in music, but Alex had never really decided on a major. They both knew you could only go about two years without deciding on a major here, and Alex had finally decided on one.

It was just such a shame it was something the university couldn't teach.

"Le-listen, Alex, don't you think you're moving too fast? I mean, just getting up and leaving like this… have you even told you parents?"

Alex stopped in their tracks. The thought had crossed their mind, of course, they just haven't figured out a way to tell their parents yet though. Though they were worried, they gave Nabstablook a cheery smile. "Don't worry about it, Blook. Hey, I'll come visit you guys, I just need to do this. I can't see myself doing anything else."

Temmie and Nabstablook nodded. Alex smiled. "Goodbye Blooky, Goodbye Temmie!" With that, they were out the door and ready to take on the world.

They just didn't know how much the world would kick back.

Honestly, they should've thought more ahead, because it wasn't easy to find a renter who could understand the concept of making videos for a living. In fact, they couldn't find one at all. Every single one they went to, they were denied. Three days and one motel later, they were out of money and sitting on an old abandoned bus bench in the middle of nowhere.

 _What could possibly make this any worse?_ They thought to themselves.

Mother nature decided to answer that question, because then it started to rain.

 _Ugh, great,_ Alex thought. _This really couldn't get any worse now. I'm trapped in my own hometown with no money, no place to stay, and now it's raining!_

Beginning to shiver, Alex pulled one of their favorite jackets out of their bag. It was a marron color with a white zipper, and it really went well with their black jeans. After putting it on, they set their suitcase under the bench and laid down on their stomach, wet drops hitting their back rhythmically.

It was peaceful for a while, that is, until Alex started to chide themselves. _Why did I possibly think that I could make it out on my own? I mean, just because I'm starting to grow an audience with my videos, that doesn't automatically mean that I could make it out in the world. I can hear my mom's voice now. Baka!_

After a while, they drifted off to sleep.

Alex woke up to someone poking their sides. The first thought that went through their head was, _oh great, probably some cop telling me I can't sleep here, just when I thought this couldn't get any worse-_

"Undyne! C'mon, I don't think you should wake them up. Maybe this isn't such a good idea…" a timid voice began. "What if they're mad when we wake them up?"

"Alphys, you're such a worry wart. If they're mad when they wake up, then we'll just apologize and be on our way. Do you think I'm not tough enough to defend us?" another voice asked, she was a bit louder and had more stability in her voice, more confidence.

"No," the timid voice, apparently called Alphys, replied. "I'm just thinking it might not be such a great-"

"Alphys! They're up!"

That's when Alex decided to open their eyes and sat up, and when they did, they saw the faces of the two voices that had been talking about them. First thing: they were monsters. They were looking at them with fascination, and they looked pretty friendly. One of them were a really lanky fish with red hair tied up in a ponytail, probably a good foot taller than they were. The other one was… well… a lizard dinosaur sort of thing? She was a pale yellow color and had rectangular glasses that framed her face pretty well. Alex was at a loss for words.

So, Undyne spoke first.

"Human! Great, you're awake!" She smiled ear to ear, she seemed friendly, even if her exterior came off as intimidating.

"Who're you?" Alex asked in a sort of panicky tone.

"I'm Undyne, and this is my girlfriend, Alphys!" Undyne exclaimed. Alphys did a quiet wave and gave a shy smile from behind her. She was buttoning and unbuttoning a lab coat nervously.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you. I'm Alex. Alex Thomas."

A beat of silence.

"Uh… if you don't mind me asking… why did you wake me up?"

"Oh! You see, my girlfriend and I were just out here on a walk since I love rainy weather, and we saw you laying here. So, we made a decision…"

"A very rash decision," Alphys whispered from behind her.

"… To wake you up and ask you if you need a place to stay. It can't be too nice staying out here in the rain. I love it, but I'm sure you don't. Plus, it'll get cold outside soon."

Alex stared at them for a moment. Were they really asking is they needed a place to stay? I mean, don't misunderstand, they'd happily go with them. There was nothing wrong with them, they seemed friendly enough. Yet somehow… they felt like it was too good to be true.

 _C'mon,_ they thought to themselves. _What could possibly go wrong? It's not like you have a lot of options here: go with them, or freeze your ass off out here without a home._

Finally, they had made up their mind.

"Sure," Alex spoke. "I'd love to come with."


	2. Chapter 2

Alex's POV:

I don't know why I accepted their offer. I really don't. Yet somehow… I feel safe with them. Like I know they won't hurt me. That's why I can say with 100% confidence that I trusted Alphys and Undyne from the start.

I rolled my suitcase out from under the bench and pulled the handle up. It was a gift to me from my parents on Christmas, and they know me so well, because they got it in my favorite color. It came with two even smaller suitcases inside of it, but those are still back at home. I decided not to bring them to uni, and even now I feel like I wouldn't need them. I really don't own that much stuff, but what I do have, I'm grateful for. I mean, let's be real, by the time you get to university you stop caring about what people are thinking about your outfit.

At least, that's what I'm told. I don't really know what I think.

"C'mon, we don't live far from here," Undyne beckoned, and she and Alphys held hands as we walked the entire way there. Alphys was just a head shorter than I was, and Undyne was a head and a half. I was sort of a happy medium, but not quite. Not an exact medium. Happy mediums really only exist in books like A Wrinkle in Time I guess.

While I was thinking to myself, we walked down the rainy sidewalk, the drops making a lovely sort of tune. **_(For those who have the Undertale soundtrack, imagine "Waterfall" playing)_** **.** I hummed to myself as we made our way down the street. It was awfully quiet, but it wasn't a bad silence. More of a peaceful silence.

My life hadn't been going to well the past few days. Apparently, landlords don't understand the concept of making videos for a living, but I promise it's a thing. Technically, I was already a partner with the owners of the platform I posted my videos on, so I do make money for making videos. It's not a lousy pay either, it actually rolls a fair amount of cash my way. I just wish more people would understand that.

But now, things were looking up for me.

Who would've guessed of all the people helping me, it would turn out to be a fish monster and her girlfriend? Not me.

Soon enough, we were standing outside their house. "This is it," Undyne smiled. She opened the door and her and Alphys went inside, and I turned and took one last look. With the combination of the rain, the street lights, the starts and the brightly-glowing crescent moon, tonight really was beautiful standing out here.

After being dazed by the view, I heard Undyne's voice from inside. **_("Waterfall" starts to fade out)_** "Alex, you coming, punk?"

"Yeah, I'm coming," I replied, heaving my suitcase inside the house and closing the door. It was just then, seeing the dry home and the dry air, I realized how truly wet I was. Undyne wasn't that wet, and if she was, she didn't mind it, and Alphys was mainly wet only on her shoulders. I, on the other hand, was completely soaked from taking a nap for who knows how long in the rain.

After complaining internally about my current clothes condition, I looked around at my surroundings. The best word I can find to describe it is comfy. They had a beautiful grand piano in the middle of the room, a polished wooden dining table, a nicely-kept kitchen, a pale blue couch and a mahogany coffee table in front of a huge flat-screen TV. It was nicer than I expected it to be, but then again, I'm not sure what I was expecting in the first place. This was nicer than any place I could've ever dreamed of staying in.

"Do you have somewhere I can change out of these clothes?" I asked finally, after checking out the house for a while.

"Oh- of course!" Alphys spoke up, for one of the first times since I met her. "We have a guest bedroom right down the hall, and there's a bathroom inside it if you need to wash off." I nodded as she led me through a hallway and through the first door on the left, well, the only door on the left. Walking in, it struck me.

For a guest bedroom, it was beautiful.

There was a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room with a wooden headboard, a nice bedside table that doubled as a dresser, a small desk and an empty bookshelf. As if she could see my jaw drop, Alphys began to speak bashfully. "Back in the underground, I worked as the royal scientist. I did my job well, and I got paid in furniture mostly. After I had all I could want though, Asgore, the king, didn't know what to pay me in. Since we were underground, we found a shiny substance later discovered to be diamonds. We didn't know, so Asgore would go to where we would call the 'wishing room' and take some diamonds to pay me in. It's only when we came to the surface, we discovered how valuable they were. Most of the diamonds are gone now, I'm sure, but the ones Undyne and I were paid with became what we sold to get this house built exactly like Undyne's in the underground. We also brought up a lot of stuff we already had when we lived down there."

"If the King is the one who paid both you and Undyne, and you were the royal scientist, what was Undyne?"

"Oh, she was the head of the Royal Guard."

 _Wow!_ I thought to myself. Alphys smiled, and then continued, "The bathroom is right there. Feel free to wash up and everything, this room is yours now. Have a good night."

"You too, Alphys. I really can't thank you two enough. Goodnight."

Alphys smiled once again and left the room. I took off my clothes, jumped in the shower quickly, and changed into some dry pajamas. Finally, I laid down in the queen-sized bed and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up in the morning to a loud, and frankly too overly-enthusiastic voice. I mean, c'mon, who's _excited_ to be awake at 9:00 in the morning?

Wanting to see what the commotion was about, I swung myself out of the comfy bed and trudged over to the door, stepping outside the room and heading into where the noise was coming from.

Upon opening the door, well, I really should've expected what I saw.

I saw some kind of skeletal monster, about the same height as Undyne, speaking in a loud voice. Alphys was sitting on the couch looking over some papers, and Undyne was making conversation with the skeleton. They didn't notice me come in at first, so they had their conversation like I wasn't even in the room.

"WHAT?" The loud skeleton yelled, but for him, I guess it seemed more like a speaking voice. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE HOUSING A HUMAN? ARE THEY NICE? WHAT ARE THEY LIKE? CAN I MEET THEM?"

"Woah, so many questions at once, Paps," Undyne began. "First of all, yes. Alphys and I are housing a human. Second of all, yeah, they seem pretty nice. They don't talk too much, but honestly, that could've just been because we just woke them up and they were soaking wet. Thirdly, yes you can, as soon as they wake up."

As soon as Undyne finished her sentence, I cleared my throat. I mean, it seemed like the perfect time to make my presence be known. Undyne and the skeleton (Undyne called him Paps? I don't know) looked over at me, while Alphys didn't even look up from her work. "Ah, Alex, you're awake!" Undyne exclaimed, giving me a smile.

"Yeah, good morning!" I gave her a cheery smile.

Before Undyne could get another word in, the skeletal monster exclaimed, "UNDYNE! IS THIS THE HUMAN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT?"

"Only so many humans can wake up in my house," Undyne joked dryly. There was no response, as if he didn't get the joke. Undyne chuckled to herself and sighed. "Yes, Papyrus, this is the human I was talking about."

"OH MY GOD," Papyrus(?) began, coming up to me and offering me a gloved hand. "GREETINGS HUMAN, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. IT IS YOUR PLEASURE TO MEET ME."

I couldn't help but laugh softly as I took his hand. "I'm Alex," I told him, giving him a big smile. He seemed to appreciate it, for his face seemed to light up. How can a skeletons face light up you may ask? I'll leave that entirely up to your imagination.

"UNDYNE, I LIKE THIS HUMAN, BUT I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO START OUR COOKING LESSON," Papyrus began.

"What a shame," Alphys sighed from across the room.

"What's a shame?" I asked.

"We only had this house for a little bit, Undyne. You know what happened to your house back in Waterfall."

Undyne seemed to chuckle softly as she blushed. "Hey, punk, that was an accident. I can't promise it won't happen again though, fuhuhu."

"What happened?" I asked, turning to Alphys.

"She burned her own house down trying to teach a human called Frisk to cook, and ended up living with Papyrus for a while."

"Oh, well then, uh…" I trailed off.

"If I were you, I'd go somewhere else. I'm going to my lab… I have no idea where you could go."

"I HAVE AN IDEA!" Papyrus joined in. "THE HUMAN CAN STAY AT MY HOUSE UNTIL MY LESSON IS OVER!"

"Uh, Paps, you sure that's a good idea? What about Sans?"

"MY LAZYBONES BROTHER WON'T EVEN KNOW YOU'RE THERE. HE WOULD EVEN FORGET HE WAS THERE IF HE WEREN'T ATTACHED TO HIS BODY. IT MAKES ME WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO IF HE DIDN'T HAVE SUCH A COOL GUY LOOKING AFTER HIM."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, even if Papyrus wasn't joking. I mean, the idea didn't sound all too bad, I just didn't want to be in here is the house went up in smoke. "Sure! I'm fine with it."

"PERFECT! HUMAN, YOU CAN GET READY AND THEN I WILL GIVE YOU THE KEYS TO MY HOME. PLEASE DO NOT LOCK ME OUT AS I ONLY HAVE ONE PAIR."

I laughed again. "I won't I promise. I'll be right back." As soon as I said that, I left the room and ran down the hall, running into the guest bedroom. I threw my suitcase open and just grabbed what seemed comfortable, which was just a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, complete with a dark green jacket with white strings. I didn't bother much with my hair and just did my usual before running back out and seeing Papyrus and Undyne again, standing and staring at me. "Alright, I'm ready," I told Papyrus, walking up to me.

He took the keys out of what seemed to be a breast pocket inside of his outfit, and handed them to me. "I AM TRUSTING YOU HUMAN. MY HOUSE IS NOT TOO FAR DOWN FROM HERE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE IT BECAUSE I ENGRAVED MY NAME ON A PLAQUE ON THE FRONT DOOR OF THE HOUSE."

"And it's wooden," Undyne added.

"AS UNDYNE SAYS, IT IS ALSO WOODEN."

I smiled and slipped the keys inside my jacket pocket. "Sure thing. I'll be back when you guys are done, so I guess I'll know you guys are done when Papyrus comes back to his house! Bye!"

"BYE!" Papyrus and Undyne yelled in unison.

After getting outside, it just came to me that I had no idea what direction I was going. I sighed and thought of going back inside, but that's when luck hit me, Alphys came outside. "Alphys!" I exclaimed happily, surprising her.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, recollecting herself.

"Which way is Papyrus's house? They told me what it looked like, but even so, I can't find it."

"It's just down that street a block or two," she told me, pointing me towards where she was talking about.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed towards her, beginning on my way down the street. Last time I went down this street, it was night time and rain was falling. During the day, the street seemed very ordinary. Just for some reason, last night, everything around me seemed extraordinary and surreal.

After only a few minutes of walking, I found myself in front of a house that matched the description they had given to me. _Well, it's defiantly wooden,_ I commented, nearing the front door. Sure enough, when I got to the door, there was a plaque with Papyrus's name written on it in all capital letters in an intense font. Under it, in a smaller font, there was a name I could barely make out. "Sans…?" I read aloud to myself. I shrugged and took out the key, unlocking the door and letting myself in.

They had, in my opinion, a nice house. Then again, I have been living in a co-ed dorm for the past two years, so my expectations weren't what you'd call high. There was a kitchen not too far from the door way, a wooden dinging table, a green couch with a rug and a side table with a book on it. Then there was a staircase, and I didn't want to snoop, so I didn't go up it.

Across from their couch there was a nice flat screen TV, so I plopped myself down on the couch and turned on the TV, flipping to my favorite channel and hoping my favorite show was on.

Lucky for me, it was.

I watched TV for what felt like hours, but I really only got through two episodes, so that was highly unrealistic. Midway through the third episode, my luck turned and the TV suddenly went to static.

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned to myself, flipping through other channels and seeing the same thing. Ultimately, I switched the TV off, deciding that peace was better than static.

Well, my peace didn't last for too long, because right as I laid back on the couch, a skeleton walked in.

And it wasn't Papyrus.

I turned my head to look at who came in, and at the same time, they turned their head towards me. He was a shorter skeleton than Papyrus, but not shorter than I was. He maybe had a few inches on me. He was wearing a blue hoodie with an undershirt, going with some black gym shorts and white slippers. _Well that's an interesting choice of clothing,_ I thought to myself.

No one said anything for a moment. Then finally, the skeleton spoke. His voice seemed tense, as if he had no idea how to react to what was going on, but it was clear he didn't like it.

"who're you, and what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Alex. Your brother, I'm guessing you're his brother, went to Undyne's house to have a cooking lesson, and he sent me over here because, well, I heard they're destructive cookers. He gave me the keys and everything, I didn't break in, I'm sure he'll tell you when he-"

"whoa kid, slow down there, i believe you," he spoke again, but this time without the tenseness he had before. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

"Nice to meet you," I said, smiling. He smiled back, and suddenly, I felt something. Like a ping of something inside me, like someone just flipped a switch. Suddenly my heart felt like it was in my throat, and the air around me started to feel like poison, but after a couple of seconds, the feeling started to die down. _That was weird,_ I thought.

I didn't get much time to think about what just happened before Sans started to talk again. "so what're you doing staying at undyne's place anyways, huh?" he asked, giving me a strange look.

"Oh, well, she and Alphys took me in. Last night, they found me…" I trailed off. Did I really want to tell a guy I just met that I was sleeping on a bench in the middle of nowhere? At the same time though, there was nothing I could possibly lose, but for some reason, I didn't want him to think I was weird. I ignored my gut feeling and continued, "… sleeping on a bench in the rain. They felt bad for me, so they woke me up and took me in, giving me a place to stay until I get back on my feet."

"huh," Sans replied, half-smiling. "that's funny. what were you doing sleeping on a bench in the first place?"

"Well, you see, I… I left University. However, no landlord would let me rent for whatever reason, and I couldn't move into anywhere, which so isn't fair. So, until I find out how to get a landlord to accept me, I'm sticking around with Undyne and Alphys."

Sans nodded, and then looked out the window. I couldn't tell where he was looking at first, but then I saw: he was looking at Papyrus coming home. He turned towards me. "hey, do me a favor, will you kiddo?" he asked.

"I'm not a kid, you know."

"i'm gonna take that as a yes. don't tell papyrus i went out and bought myself some food, he might get upset. his spaghetti just isn't really filling, especially when it's nearly inedible."

I couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Yeah, of course, it's just between you and me."

"perfect," Sans said, winking at me. "knew i could trust you. see you around, alex."

Before I could reply, he walked up the stairs, and disappeared out of my sight. Just then, a very familiar loud skeleton walked into the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Alex's POV:

"HUMAN!" Papyrus yelled as soon as he walked into the house, being his loud self. Was he always this loud? I was going to assume so. Being loud was never a bad thing, in fact, I always found it comforting when people were loud. It gives the effect that they're comfortable being who they are.

"Hello Papyrus," I replied, giving him a small smile as I turned to him.

"HAS MY LAZYBONES BROTHER COME OUT OF HIS ROOM AT ALL TODAY AND GREET YOU?"

I thought about what Sans asked me to do for him. He never said anything about telling Papyrus he never left his room at all, so I figured is Papyrus wasn't asking specifically about Sans buying food, I wouldn't touch the subject. "Yeah, I met Sans. He's really interesting, and not in the bad way."

"EXCELLENT! I'M GLAD TO HEAR YOU LIKE MY BROTHER!" Papyrus exclaimed, his voice cheerier than it was before. I guess the fact that Sans even left his room amazed him, which made me think. Was Sans a shut-in? If so, I don't blame Papyrus for wanting him to leave his room a little more. I used to never leave my room at all, and my entire family used to call me Hermit Alex. Whenever I came out of my room, they acted like it was a huge event.

Then again, maybe it was.

Before I could dwell anymore on my thought, Papyrus began to speak again. "I MADE SPAGHETTI AT UNDYNE'S TODAY, AND I GOT TO BRING SOME BACK. WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE SOME, HUMAN?"

I thought for a moment about Sans joke about Papyrus's spaghetti being inedible. Whether it was true or not, I decided not to accept his offer. I didn't reject him straight up though, because that would've just been rude. "I really should be getting back to Undyne's house now, so I don't think I'll have time to have some. Thank you for the offer though."

"RIDICULOUS! I KNOW A SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR THIS MISHAP, HUMAN!" Papyrus told me, running into his kitchen. I stood there for a moment, not really knowing what to expect. Soon enough, Papyrus came running out with an aluminum container, and a huge smile plastered on his face. "TAKE THIS WITH YOU. BE SURE TO RETURN IT THOUGH, BECAUSE I ONLY HAVE A FEW OF THEM, AND I LIKE TO PACK THINGS FOR UNDYNE WHENEVER I SEE HER."

I couldn't help but smile at Papyrus's kindness. "Thank you Papyrus, I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to give it back to you the next time I see you," I told him, taking the container. Now that he gave me this, I would feel bad if I didn't eat his spaghetti. I'll just ask Undyne later how well the cooking lesson turned out, and if this will actually be a meal worth eating.

"OF COURSE! IF YOU LIKE IT THAT MUCH, I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE SPAGHETTI YOU COULD EVER WANT!"

"Well, whenever I have a craving for spaghetti, I'll be sure to come to you first."

"WOWIE! I FEEL SO HONORED! DON'T WORRY, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN! NOW, YOU CAN GO ATTEND TO YOUR BUSINESS HUMAN!"

"Bye Papyrus," I told him, heading outside the door. I started walking on the way back to Undyne's, but I really felt like I was floating on air. I don't know what it was about that house, it just made me feel undeniably cheery. Maybe it was Papyrus's spunky personality, or maybe it was Sans laid-back ways.

Also, what was it about Sans? That feeling I got when I talked to him, I hadn't felt that since high school. I couldn't quite remember when, but I remembered that feeling. It came with a strong sense of nostalgia, and it threw me back to high school. I didn't do anything grand when I felt that way, all we did was introduce ourselves to each other and talk for a bit. Well, I was doing a lot of the talking. For some reason, Sans was just so easy to talk to…

Before I knew it, I found myself outside of Undyne and Alphys's door. I snapped back into reality and let myself inside, and I was greeted to Undyne reading a manga, sprawled out on the couch. Hearing me come in, she looked up. "Alex! What's up, punk?" she asked, sitting up and putting the book aside.

"Nothing really," I replied.

"What are you carrying?"

"Oh, this?" I asked, holding up the tin container. She nodded. "It's some spaghetti Papyrus packed up for me. He said the two of you made it today. Should I trust it?" I asked half-jokingly, half-serious.

"Hah, very funny. You can trust it, my house is still standing, aint it?"

"True enough," I said, setting the container down and joining her on the couch.

"So, how was spending the day at Pap's house? You seem happy." Undyne asked, playfully pushing me with her shoulder.

"Well, I mostly just watched TV, then after a while it went into static. Then his brother walked in," I started, unaware of the small smile that came on my face when I mentioned Sans. "He thought I broke in at first. After I explained to him what I was doing there, he simmered down. He's pretty chill, I like him."

Undyne stared at me like I was crazy. "I'm sorry, did you just say that you actually enjoyed the presence of Sans the skeleton? Are we thinking of the same person here?"

I gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? What's wrong with Sans?"

"I mean nothing's wrong with him he just…" she trailed off. "He doesn't talk to a lot of people. Well, he doesn't really talk to people. He's a comedian, he cracks jokes and everybody likes him… but ever since we left the Underground, he's changed. He still cracks jokes like usual, and he still talks to people… he just doesn't really talk. Y'know what I mean?"

I nodded slowly. "I think so. You mean he jokes to avoid talking about anything of actual meaning?"

"Exactly!"

"Hm, well he did joke a little bit. He talked to me though, I didn't feel like he was holding back." I shrugged. "But who knows. We didn't talk for too long though, so maybe I just don't have a good view on it."

Undyne was silent for a moment, and then a smile on her face grew widely. I must've made some kind of face, because Undyne just laughed softly and shook her head. "Sorry, I just thought of something. Well, I'm just gonna take my manga and read in my room, not doing anything strange at all! So don't worry about me, I have a lot of manga to catch up on!"

Before I could ask about her suspicious phrasing, she ran down her hall and jumped into her room. I shrugged and walked to the guest room I was staying in and sat myself down on the bed.

As I pulled out my phone to do some haphazard scrolling in my favorite website, I stopped myself, hovering over the power button. A thought passed through my head, a thought that included my parents. I guess I never told them about my decision, and seeing as where it was led me to the situation I'm in, I should probably tell them about what's happening.

How would they react though?

All the worst situations ran through my head. What if they're mad at me for leaving uni? What if they're not supportive of my decision? What if they make me go back? What would they think of the path I chose?

I wasn't going to back down now. Not when I had already come this far. I was going to call them, and whatever their reaction was, I'd have to live with it.

I opened up my phone and typed in their number quickly, calling them and putting the phone up to my head. I could hear my breathing begin to change, and beads of sweat gathered in my face. I began to take deep breaths to calm myself down when I heard the familiar sound of my mother's voice on the other end of the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, mom, it's me."

"Oh, hey Alex, what's up?" My mom asked, as if everything was normal. Well, she was in for a huge surprise.

"Well, I need to tell you something. Um… I don't know if you're going to like this."

"What is it?"

"… The truth is mom; I don't know where I was going with university. I didn't feel like anything there was for me, I didn't feel like it played a part in my future. So… I left. A few days ago."

Silence.

And then, her voice.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" she asked calmly. It took me aback, how well she just took that.

"I'm not quite sure," I half-lied. "Are you okay with that?"

"Alex, it's your life. I don't want to force you into something you're going to regret when you're my age."

Once again, her words took me aback. She could tell, because she continued. "Look, I'll tell you father so you don't have to worry about him. In the meantime, give yourself some space and figure out what you want to do."

"I think I know what I want to do."

"What's that?"

I took a deep breath. "I want to make videos on the internet."

At first, she said nothing. Then, she just began to laugh softly. "You do you, you do you. I love you so much, Alex."

I couldn't help but smile on my end of the line. "I love you too. Thank you."

"Goodbye," she said, and with that, it was done. I stared at my phone, not believing how easy that was. What just happened?

Suddenly, I heard a door open and close, snapping me out of my thoughts. Then Undyne's loud voice exclaiming, "Alphys! You're home!" I didn't hear Alphys's reply, but that seemed to be typical, Alphys was a soft-spoken person.

I sat down on the bed, letting my thoughts trail off. I still couldn't believe how supportive my mom was. She didn't give me a speech or anything, which I'm grateful for, because sitting through mom speeches are always painful. In fact… she kind of seemed like she was expecting it.

Before I got any more into what I was beginning to think, Undyne burst through my door. Almost literally. She kicked the door open and faced me, and with a completely serious face, asked, "Would you like to watch anime with Alphys and I?"

"Sure!" I exclaimed, getting up from the bed. Truth is, I wasn't really doing anything, and if I just sat there I'd dwell on my thoughts about the whole video situation more. Something I really didn't need to do.

I followed Undyne into the living room, where I saw Alphys already sitting down, an anime paused on the opening sequence. "What're we watching?" I asked Alphys, sitting on her left as Undyne sat on her right.

"It's called Madoka Magica. It's about this girl who gets offered-"

"Don't spoil it!" Undyne shouted suddenly.

"Oh, right, sorry… heh…" Alphys trailed off, turning red. "Eh-Anyways, let's just dive into it."

"Wait a second!" I yelled, almost unexpectedly from myself. "I'm just going to heat up something really quick, so could you keep it paused? I mean, if you played it, I wouldn't understand a word… because, you know… it's in Japanese."

"Make it quick, punk!" Undyne told me, and as soon as she gave me that, I got up and picked up Papyrus's spaghetti. As soon as Undyne saw what I picked up, she laughed. "Oh, trust me, you won't need to heat that up. It keeps itself warm."

I was about to question her, but when I opened it, I found she was right. "Huh," I hummed to myself quietly, grabbing a plastic fork from out of a drawer and returning to my place on the couch. "Alright, I guess I'm good then."

"Alright, here we go," Alphys said, starting the anime.

We watched two episodes while I quietly ate my spaghetti. It was a really interesting series, and the main protagonist was faced with a difficult decision: What wish was worth turning into a witch for?

For some reason, when that thought came into my head, I could only think of one wish, one question I wanted answered…

Why did I feel so interesting with Sans earlier?

san's pov:

"SANS! I MADE DINNER, IF YOUR LAZYBONES WANTS TO COME DOWN HERE AND EAT IT!" i heard papyrus shout from downstairs.

"no, my lazybones would rather stay up here, paps."

"SANS!"

"okay, you pulled my leg, i'm coming!"

i sighed as i got up from my (arguably) comfortable bed, slipped on my slippers and trudged downstairs heavily. honestly, paps was getting better at cooking. i just had to get better with actually coming downstairs and eating.

"THERE YOU ARE YOU LAZYBONES! GOSH, ITS LIKE YOU'VE BEEN IN YOUR ROOM ALL DAY! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT HUMAN, I WOULD THINK THAT YOU REALLY _WERE_ IN YOUR ROOM ALL DAY!" paps shouted at me.

and that's when it came back.

this strange feeling.

ever since i saw that human, i don't know… this feeling has just been with me. i didn't know what to describe it as, it was a mix of both pain and happiness. but the pain wasn't painful it was just a sort of… pain.

i don't know what to make of it.

i sat down at the table where papyrus had set down a plate of some steaming spaghetti. sighing, i stuck a mouthful of the indescribable food in my mouth, not saying anything.

"SANS, ARE YOU FEELING ALRIGHT? YOU'RE BEING VERY QUIET."

"yeah, it does seem that way when i'm not being humerus." i joked, and papyrus sighed heavily, his usual.

really, though, i was being quiet because i had one thing, and one thing only, on my mind.

how could i see that human again?


End file.
